Alternative energy
potential in africa
Africa is green and yet she is a continent largely in need of energy. Energy sources abound in
Africa yet her industries go moribund everyday. Job cuts due to high energy cost in a constant
news item. Majority of Africa nations are immersed in darkness and energy deficit because all
our power generation stations are still run by old, obsolete and inefficient fossil-fuel fired power
plants.
MAGNUS OSHIOGWE
The fundamental importance of energy
to the survival and growth of a modern
society cannot be over-emphasized,
yet the generation and supply of
energy as it is currently, is both a
complex and expensive enterprise. The
worldwide market politics in play by
the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) members
has greatly impacted on hydrocarbon
fuel production, supply and pricing
which has in turn created a ripple
effect on the cost of acquiring energy
by the man on the street. In effect,
countries that were burning oil
intensively for power generation,
transportation and industrial
application began to seek new and
sustainable energy sources for their
needs. It was at this point that interest
in renewable energy sources began to
take off. Also the widespread concern
for the environment, led to intense
research into renewable energy
technologies such as wave power, hot
rock geothermal power and fuel cells.
However, the main winners were solar
power, wind power and the use of
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biofuels derived from crops and cellulose
feedstock instead of petrol or oil. Though
development took a long time, but by the
dawn of the twenty first century, solar,
wind and biofuels development had
reached the stage where they were
considered technologically and
economically viable.
There is considerable reason to believe
that these energy sources will contribute
significantly to Africa’s energy mix in the
twenty – first century and beyond.
Africa is green and yet she is a continent
largely in need of energy. Energy sources
abound in Africa yet her industries go
moribund everyday. Job cuts due to high
energy cost in a constant news item.
Majority of Africa nations are immersed in
darkness and energy deficit because all
our power generation stations are still run
by old, obsolete and inefficient fossil-fuel
fired power plants. Unpredictable rainfall,
erratic water flow and perennial flooding
has made most of our hydropower
stations just ‘less-than-installed-capacity’
power generators.